Currently browsing: Invasive Species

The state of Idaho has shifted from an aggressive rapid response – the emergency eradication of quagga mussels found in the mid-Snake River near Twin Falls last year -- to prevention and containment, according to Nic Zurfluh, Invasive Species Bureau Chief at the Idaho State Department of Agriculture. The incident was the first time invasive, destructive mussels were verified in the Columbia River basin.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife received notification last week from a local wholesale aquarium company in Renton of possible invasive freshwater mussels on a shipment of Marimo moss balls. Moss balls are a commonly used decorative algae in aquariums and water gardens.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service this week released its final environmental impact statement analyzing proposed barred owl management alternatives to protect northern and California spotted owls in Washington, Oregon and California from invasive barred owls.

Efforts to suppress northern pike in reservoirs upstream of Chief Joseph and Grand Coulee dams so far have been successful at keeping the voracious predator from populating waters downstream in what is considered the “anadromous zone” where it is feared the invasive fish would decimate salmon and steelhead runs in the Columbia River basin. Many of those anadromous fish are listed under the federal Endangered Species Act.

Idaho Fish and Game biologists quickly learned that the copper treatment to rid a stretch of the Snake River from quagga mussels caused high mortality in certain species – at least six to seven tons of dead fish -- while others survived quite well.

Idaho completed a 10-day treatment to rid a sixteen-mile section of the mid-Snake River near Twin Falls of quagga mussel larvae (veligers) and at least two adult mussels. The state says the treatment was largely successful, although it and other partners will continue to test for at least the next five years.